Page 56 - American Stories, A History of the United States

the future Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and
Isabella. As a result of this marital arrangement, English merchants enjoyed lim- 1.1
ited rights to trade in Spain’s American colonies, but any attempt by England at
independent colonization would have threatened those rights and jeopardized the
alliance. 1.2
By the end of the sixteenth century, however, conditions within England had
changed dramatically, in part because of the Protestant Reformation. The English Protestant reformation
began to consider their former ally, Spain, to be the greatest threat to English aspi- Sixteenth-century religious 1.3
rations. Tudor monarchs, especially Henry VIII (r. 1509–1547) and his daughter movement to reform and
challenge the spiritual authority of
Elizabeth I (r. 1558–1603), developed a strong central administration, while Eng- the roman Catholic Church.
land became increasingly Protestant. The merger of English Protestantism and Eng- 1.4
lish nationalism helped propel England into a central role in European affairs and
was crucial in creating a powerful sense of an English identity among all classes of
people.
Popular anticlericalism helped spark religious reformation in England. Although 1.5
they observed traditional Catholic ritual, the English people had long resented paying
monies to a pope who lived in far-off Rome. Early in the sixteenth century, criticism of
the clergy grew increasingly vocal. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the most powerful prelate 1.6
in England, flaunted his immense wealth and unwittingly became a symbol of spiritual
corruption. Parish priests were objects of ridicule; they seemed theologically ignorant
and eager to line their own pockets. Anticlericalism did not run as deep in England as
it had in Martin Luther’s Germany, but by the late 1520s, the Catholic Church could no
longer take for granted the allegiance of the great mass of the population. The people’s
growing anger is central to understanding the English Reformation. Put simply, if ordi-
nary English men and women had not accepted separation from Rome, then Henry
VIII could not have forced them to leave the church.
The catalyst for Protestant Reformation in England was the king’s desire to rid
himself of his wife, Catherine of Aragon. Their marriage had produced a daughter,
Mary, but no son. The need for a male heir obsessed Henry. He and his counselors
assumed a female ruler could not maintain domestic peace, and England would fall
again into civil war. The answer seemed to be remarriage. Henry petitioned Pope
Clement VII for a divorce (technically, an annulment), but the Spanish were unwilling
to tolerate the public humiliation of Catherine. They forced the pope to procrastinate.
In 1527, time ran out. The king fell in love with Anne Boleyn and moved to divorce
Catherine with or without papal consent. Anne would become his second wife in 1533
and would later deliver a daughter, Elizabeth.
The final break with Rome came swiftly. Between 1529 and 1536, the king, acting
through Parliament, severed all ties with the pope, seized church lands, and dissolved
many of the monasteries. In March 1534, the Act of Supremacy announced, “The
King’s Majesty justly and rightfully is supreme head of the Church of England.”
The entire process, which one historian termed a “state reformation,” was conducted
with impressive efficiency. Land formerly owned by the Catholic Church passed
quickly into private hands, and within a short period, property holders throughout
England had acquired a vested interest in Protestantism. Beyond breaking with the
papacy, Henry showed little enthusiasm for theological change. Many Catholic cer-
emonies survived.
The split with Rome, however, opened the door to increasingly radical religious
ideas. In 1539, an English translation of the Bible first appeared in print. Before then,
Scripture had been widely available only in Latin, the language of an educated elite.
For the first time in English history, ordinary people could read the word of God in the
vernacular. It was a liberating experience that persuaded some men and women that
Henry had not sufficiently reformed the English church.
With Henry’s death in 1547, England entered a period of political and religious
instability. Edward VI, Henry’s young son by his third wife, Jane Seymour, came to the
throne, but he was a sickly child. Militant Protestants took control, insisting the Church
of England remove every trace of its Catholic origins. When young Edward died in
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